Persons requiring assisted breathing frequently need to have supplemental oxygen delivered to them. Oxygen therapy is widely used in all acute care hospitals and non-acute care settings, being currently prescribed annually to over 70 million patients in acute care hospitals alone. There are few contraindications for oxygen therapy relative to the immediate benefits for many patients in respiratory distress. Current procedure requires a hierarchy of patient interface devices, and the particular device selected depends upon the level of oxygen selected for the treatment. One such interface device considered by many to be the most comfortable is a nasal cannula. The nasal cannula is positioned adjacent to a user's nostrils, and a flow of oxygen, air with supplemental oxygen, heliox or other forms of these or other respiratory gasses, is delivered to the user through the nasal cannula. While nasal cannula are comfortable for users receiving low flow rates of respiratory gases, nasal cannula delivery is too uncomfortable for patients when the flow rate is in excess of 5-6 liters per minute (lpm). When high—or specific—concentrations of oxygen are required, oxygen masks are necessary. Accordingly, a progression of mask systems must be used in response to increased oxygen requirements.
The process of aerosolization of sterile water, and other liquids such as those containing medication, is known to those skilled in the art. A nasal cannula is a preferred mode of delivering such aerosols because it is much more tolerable to a patient, and is less likely to become disengaged. In addition, there are fewer adverse reactions by a patient to the use of a nasal cannula such as facial abrasions caused by the mask, and the patient can eat, speak and drink without removing the cannula through which treatment is being received. It would be very desirable to be able to provide an inexpensive, single-patient-use, high-flow nasal cannula for respiratory care therapy and treatment.